Stay with the larger questions

The Long View

72 Readings for an Ordinary Life

Friendship, desire, work, grief, joy and hope deserve more than a quick answer. Open to a teaching, try a practical exercise or spend time with a short illustrative story. Each reading stands on its own, so you can follow the whole collection or begin with what matters today.

Inside: 396 pages
Edition: Illustrated PDF
By: Anro

$9.99 USD · One-time price

Digital download · One-time purchase.

About this book

A book to open again as life changes.

For a reader who wants a substantial bedside or desk companion: something to revisit, annotate and grow into over time.

The Long View makes space for questions that rarely stay settled. How do you keep a friendship without keeping score? What do you do with wanting? How can work matter without becoming the whole of a life?

Seventy-two independent readings sit within twelve parts. Each gives you a teaching to consider, a practical exercise or a short illustrative story. There is no continuous cast to follow and no need to start again if you set the book down. Choose the question that is close to you today, or read through the collection in order.

The original essays draw on identified passages from several philosophical traditions, including Laozi, Zhuangzi, the Dhammapada, the Analects and the Stoics. Source notes keep those conversations visible without treating the traditions as interchangeable.

Inside the pages

Ideas with somewhere to go.

72 self-contained readings

Spend time with one question without needing to remember a plot or complete a daily sequence.

12 parts

Move among the larger concerns of ordinary life, including relationships, work, wanting, loss and hope.

Stories and practical exercises

Follow brief illustrative situations, then bring the question back to a decision of your own.

Ink illustrations and reading notes

Twelve black-and-white illustrations give the text room to breathe. Notes identify the sources behind the essays.

How to spend time with it

Read a few pages, leave a mark beside a useful question and return when the situation changes. This is the library’s longest collection, designed for repeated visits.

Spend time with the ideas

Read. Reflect.
Make it your own.

What is inside

Seventy-two independent wisdom readings in twelve parts, with practical exercises, short illustrative stories, recurring ink illustrations and a dedicated reflection for every reading and source notes. You will find questions to consider and practices you can adapt to your circumstances.

Reading behind the book

Original essays in conversation with Laozi, Zhuangzi, the Dhammapada, the Analects, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and James Allen. Editions and specific passages are identified in the reading notes.

Pause with each chapter

Dedicated illustrated reflection pages offer questions to think through. No written answers, drawing or completed task is required. Writing activities are optional.

Your copy

A written digital book for personal reading and printing. Interior illustrations are black and white; the illustrated cover is in color. Read it on a phone, tablet or computer.

Questions about the edition? Write to us. Our purchase terms explain delivery and refunds.

Need help taking an idea into your day? Choose an ordinary situation in our free Practice Companion.

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The Long View, an illustrative hardcover mockup

A place on your shelf

The hardcover edition.

A printed companion for a quiet corner, a bedside table or a page you want to mark by hand.

Physical edition in preparation

We are preparing the print files and checking the production route. The final format, price and shipping details will appear here before ordering opens.

Illustrative hardcover mockup. Final appearance may vary. The purchase above is a PDF ebook.

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